The No Feal Soldier
by Foolish Blue
Summary: Raised in poverty, John is a Marine and soon he finds himself walking straight into hell fighting the spawn of Satan, the Zerg. "It's my job to be a killer, a monster" Story of pain, love, and war.
1. Broken

Disclaimer: I don't own StarCraft

A/N: Yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay, I actually intend to keep up this story. Don't flame, but do criticize the bad parts or mistakes.

**The No Feel Soldier**

**By**

**Foolish Blue**

**Chapter 1: Broken**

John Edward Ackerson looked up at the sky and sighed happily. The few clouds that were in the sky drifted slowly through the air. Like wisps of God's Breath. John smelled flowers in the air. Spring's warm breeze was at work again. John looked at the endless field of bright green grass around him. He smiled contentedly.

"Beautiful…" John whispered.

"John? John! Snap out of it!"

A harsh voice snapped John back to reality. John, confused, gave the immediate area a quick sweep with his golden eyes. He was not out in a sunny field, it wasn't a beautiful day, and it wasn't his vision of peace. John was in his run down old apartment on the slum world, Kochika. It was cold and gray outside, and it was wintertime. John sighed, this time out of depression.

"John, I'm sorry, but you gotta let of your dreams go. We are stuck here, and we aren't leaving anytime soon." John turned to voice. It was his lover, Sarah.

"We have to hold on to dream…because sometimes…they're all we have left." John said sadly.

"True…but your dreams…they will never happen. I mean come on! Here we are sitting down in your run down apartment, nineteen years old, broke, no education…we can't become anything! We are just two broke, futureless, lovers." Sarah replied.

"The harsh truth." John got up and walked with a slouch to the front door. He slipped on a black, tattered coat that was a size too small, not bothering with a shirt.

"Going somewhere honey?" Sarah asked. She stood from John's bed and slipped on some clothes to hide her naked body.

"Yes…Sarah, I wanna think…alone."

"Oh…I see…" Sarah looked at the ground. She then looked up and walked to John and pulled him into a hug. "Just don't ya go cheatin' on me." Sarah said with a laugh. John chuckled. Even on the worst days, Sarah brightened his mood.

"Come on, you know I would never do that." John said, his tone not so heavy now.

"Ya I know, have fun brooding." Sarah leaned up and kissed John's forehead. He smiled in reply and walked out the door.

John looked up at the bleak, dark sky and sighed. _Sarah is right, we have no future. Maybe I should just give up my dreams._ John thought sadly.

John trudged forward down the dirty street, allowing his thoughts to wander. He thought of his now dead parents and how they died saving him from the Zerg. John thought of his life with his love, Sarah and how, no matter what, she could put him in a better mood. Suddenly, John's thoughts drifted to what the Zerg looked like. This only succeeded in making John shudder. He hated those vile, horrible creatures.

John broke into a run. He wanted to get away, from everything. Absolutely everything. Even Sarah? Well, maybe not her. John's short brown hair seemed to be brushed aside from the wind. John listened to the wind in his ears, felt the wind against his face and his clothes flowing. John loved to run, he loved the feelings he received when he ran.

John pushed himself into an all-out sprint. The sensations grew and John felt his lips twist into a slight smile. John was fast, fastest person in the entire neighborhood. But, why wouldn't he be? He loved to run.

John must have been running for almost an hour. Past the old buildings, past the broken stop signs, past the bums on the street. Past everything. John slowed down to a stop. He gave the area a quick glance. He was at Point Higher, the neighborhood make out point and probably his favorite place in the whole godforsaken world. John noticed he was alone, besides an old blue car, which rocked slightly. John gave a chuckle. _Kids these days. Dammit I'm only nineteen, do I really feel that old?_

Sighing, John sat down at the edge to the cliff and stared at the sky. He loved this place. He had met Sarah here that was probably why. John lay against the ground and closed his eyes, letting his mind become devoid of any thought.

John slowly opened his eyes and stared up into the bleak sky.

"Change, damn you." John mumbled at the sky, willing for it to become sunny. It didn't. John sighed; things seemed to never go his way. Did things ever go anyone's way? John stood up slowly and gave the sky one final glance then turned around to head home. John had barely taken a step when he realized something was wrong with the sky. He quickly turned around to see what.

Against the gray clouds, a few black figures that seemed slightly bug-like seemed to slowly drift. John strained his eyes, trying to get a better view of the strange shapes. Suddenly there were a dozen of them, then fifty, then a thousand.

John gasped when he realized what the bug-like figures were.

"What the hell are the Zerg doing here?" He asked. When the word "Zerg" left his lips, his adrenaline spiked. The Zerg were here, they came. Panic took over John, but he quickly forced it down. John quickly ran to the blue car, which had, thankfully, stopped rocking. He quickly rapped a window.

A muffled "Go away." Answered.

"The fucking Zerg are here, get running!" John yelled. Almost immediately a young man with only tattered shorts on stepped out, a petite woman who was nearly naked behind him.

"They are actually here!" He asked, eyes wild with fear. John pointed to the sky. The young man gaped and quickly grabbed his girlfriend's wrist. He shouted to follow him and he took off running, his lover in tow. John, satisfied that he had just saved two lives, sprinted as fast as his body would allow to his home.

He reached it quickly. John ran up the porch and literally kicked open the door to his house. Sarah quickly rushed to him to see what was wrong.

"What's happening?" She asked, confused by John's antics.

"Zerg. Here. Run. Now." John said quickly. John turned around and dropped to one knee. "Get on my back, we gotta go the defense emplacements. I'm much faster than you, so it'll be quicker." Sarah quickly complied. John exploded into a sprint, dashing towards the small bunkers that would be used if such an attack happened.

John had run only a short way when he heard the roar of Confederate Dropships overhead. This made John run even faster, he didn't like the Confederacy, but they would fight the Zerg nevertheless.

"John, are you okay?" Sarah asked, worry etched into her tone of voice.

"Fine." John grunted.

Dashing around a corner, John saw the bunkers, already filled with people, only 300 meters ahead. John charged ahead, ignoring everything his body was telling him. He was going to live, with Sarah alive as well. The very thought of it made John's heart leap.

John suddenly heard the chatter of automatic weapons behind him, followed by screams, human and Zerg. John cast a quick glance behind him and felt his morale go completely dead. A group of 12 Marines and Firebats were just completely slaughtered by a horde of Zerglings. Sarah's high-pitched scream rang through the air.

_She's just afraid, keep running._ John thought.

"Hey kid! Follow me!" A gruff voice to John's right yelled. John looked. A group of 24 Marines were running alongside John. He had been so focused on getting away he hadn't noticed them. John looked at the large Marine who had yelled out to him. The Marine's faceplate was down, so he couldn't see the Marine's face.

"What…is…it?" John asked, between gasps of air.

"You don't look so good. Here." The large Marine pulled out a pad of some kind. The Marine ran next to John and slapped the pad onto John's neck. John felt fire course through his body and new strength arrive. John gave a quick nod of thanks and sprinted with newfound strength alongside the group of Marines.

They ran for awhile, some Marines firing their gauss rifles blindly behind them. John noticed they ran right past the defensive bunkers.

"What about those people!" John yelled over the roar of the Marine's rifles.

"We can't evac them with all these damned Zerg. They're dead." The large Marine responded. John said nothing in reply. He wanted to help those people, but the Marine was right, there was no way to help those people.

John sprinted down the street, Marines by his side. Suddenly all the Marines stopped and turned around rifles at the ready.

"Open fire!" The large Marine yelled. Suddenly, all 24 Marines fired as one. John watched in silent fascination and horror as the Marine's automatic weaponry mowed down Zergling after Zergling in an endless barrage of lead.The first few Zerglings were extremely unlucky, they were ripped apart by the powerful bullets in seconds. Blood, gore was everywhere and screams of rage and pain filled the air. This time, only the Zerg screamed.

In almost 20 seconds, the huge group of Zerglings was literally shredded to bloody bits of flesh, bone, and cartilage. John looked at the sight in amazement. He felt his stomach churn, but he managed to hold in his lunch.

"John, set me down right now!" Sarah yelled. John did so and he was glad he did to, because almost as soon as Sarah touched the ground, she bent over and threw up, she gasped for air once before throwing up once more. Sarah stood up and shakily wiped the vomit from her mouth.

The Marines burst out in laughter. John looked at them in bewilderment. The large Marine who had talk to him earlier and who was the leader of the group, lifted up his tinted face shield. The Marine was gruff, and old. He had short gray hair, 5 o'clock shadow on his face and yellow teeth. He looked fearsome.

"Can't handle the blood can you girlie?" The Marine asked with a laugh.

"I've never seen so much…violence." Sarah weakly replied.

"Ya, well get used to it. You're the only civies we can save and we're currently surrounded by Zerg."

"Wait, we're surrounded?" John asked in horror.

"Hell ya! This gon' be a good fight!" A younger, less mature Marine yelled.

"Well we need to get the hell outta here, right now…so we're gonna fight our way out." The leader said. John gave a slow nod. "Hey Polaski, give the kid a rifle and the girlie a sidearm." John's eyes widened. He was going to fight?

A Marine with pale skin, and a baldhead walked forward and handed John a spare Gauss rifle and then he gave Sarah a rather large handgun. John looked down at his weapon in amazement. The one problem here was, John had no clue on how to operate a Gauss rifle.

"You know how to work one of those kid?" The Marine asked. John shook his head. "Okay, this is the trigger, you hold the rifle like this…" The Marine showed John how to hold, fire, and reload the rifle in roughly a minute. John was familiar with handguns so he picked everything up quickly. He then showed Sarah how to use a handgun. When the Marine was satisfied that everything was in order, he closed his face shield.

"By the way kiddies, name's Akslack. If your rifle jams or has problems, talk to Polaski, the guy with swords on his armor, okay?"

"Yes sir." John replied. Akslack laughed.

"All ready actin' like a 'rine."

John smiled a bit, but his joy was short-lived. Right then, screams that made John's skin crawl, rang through air, right above the Marines and John.

"Aw fuck. Mutalisks!" Akslack yelled. He quickly lifted his rifle up to the air and began firing onto the strange bat-like creatures that were flying just overhead. John froze for a moment, but came to his senses and lifted his rifle at the Mutalisks. He squeezed the trigger once and 3 shots rang out. The bullets flew through the air before imbedding themselves into the Mutalisk. The creature squealed in pain as a portion of its head was ripped away, spraying thick, gooey, red blood everywhere.

John didn't hesitate, he pulled the trigger and held it for 3 seconds. 15 impaler rounds flew through the air and to John's dismay, only 4 of them hit. The 4 rounds slashed through the Mutalisk's wings and it screeched with pain, more blood spraying.

Suddenly the Mutalisk opened its maw wide and a large globe of green acid shot out. The acid flew towards John, and he had no time to dodge. The acid impacted against John's chest and began to melt his clothing. John dropped his rifle and scrambled out of his shirt. John tossed his shirt aside and looked at his chest. Thankfully, the acid hadn't reached his flesh yet and John was generally unharmed. Traces of acid had touched John's hands however, and they became raw.

John looked up at the Mutalisk as it prepared to fire. It was all over. John stared at the Mutalisk, refusing to die with his eyes closed. Then almost instantly, the Mutalisk's wings were torn away, then its head was blown off, then its body was torn to pieces from the hail of lead that the Marines had unleashed. John felt wet flesh and blood slap against his body. John shuddered. The dead Mutalisk's flesh was still pulsating. John quickly brushed the flesh away with his raw hands, wincing in pain as he did so.

"Kid, you ok?" Akslack asked.

"Y-ya, but my hands touched some acid and they're all raw. Do you have a medic?" John replied. Akslack shook his head.

"The Medics got hit as soon as we came in."

John cursed and looked at his rifle, he couldn't pick it up, and it would hurt to do so. John attempted to pick it up anyway. John winced in pain when he picked up the rifle, and he almost cried out when the rifle slipped out of his hand, which was slick with blood. When Sarah saw this, she ran up and held John in a hug.

"Okay kid, just run with us, and we can meet up with some medics later." John gave a small nod. "'K lets go." Akslack bounded off to the north, where John hoped he could get medical attention and/or get on a Dropship out of the hellhole that was his planet.

Running alongside Akslack and the Marines John sighed. His home was dead now. No…his home was always dead, now it was destroyed. John felt fatigue run up and down his legs. Even for him, an extremely fast and strong runner, this was pushing it.

John's hopes shot up when he saw several empty Dropships waiting for him, Sarah and the Marines a mere 50 meters away.

"Almost there you dogs! Keep it up!" Akslack yelled. John felt his body burn with newfound energy. He was going to make it.

John was suddenly thrown to the ground by something emerging from the ground. John turned to see what it was. It was 5 Hydralisks.

The Hydralisks screeched and opened their jaws. John barely saw what happened next. He saw 5 Marines instantly fall to the ground, spines sticking neatly out of their helmets. Suddenly several Marines screamed and fell as well. The remaining 14 Marines shouldered their weapons and squeezed the triggers. A Hydralisk shuddered and growled against the hail of impaler rounds slapping into its body. After a good 5 seconds the Hydralisk's arm was blown off, spraying blood onto the shell-shocked teenager. The Hydralisk growled and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. More bullets slashed into its body, completely mutilating it. The Marines turned to the last few hydralisks.

"Missiles, now!" Akslack yelled. The Marines quickly reached down to their belts and pulled out a rocket and slipped it into their rifle's missile barrel. The Hydralisks immediately took advantage of the momentary cease-fire. A Hydralisk leaped forward, scythe-like claws slashing. The Hydralisk's claw caught a Marine in the chest, slashing his chest and stomach open as though it was wet tissue paper. The Marine screamed as his intestines fell out onto the ground in front of him, along with several pints of blood.

Another Hydralisk had fired more spines into a Marine. The spines were sticking out at odd angles of the Marine, apparently doing nothing. Then he Hydralisk got lucky, and a spine went straight through the Marine's face shield and passed through completely. In a puff of blood the Marine now had a hole in his forehead, 1 centimeter in diameter.

The Marines now had their rifles up and were taking aim on the last few unlucky Hydralisks. A missile flew and impacted against a Hydralisks chest. The resulting explosion blew the Hydralisk in half. The Hydralisk somehow, was still alive though. The head sat on the ground, shooting spines in random directions, screeching. A Marine stepped forward and crushed the Hydralisk's head promptly under his boot, splattering blood and brain fluid.

A Hydralisk lunged, but was completely destroyed when 2 missiles hit simultaneously. The Hydralisk's blood, flesh, and bone were completely evaporated.

The last Hydralisk quickly looked at John, Sarah and the Marines. Choosing which was the softest target. John let out a blood-curdling scream. The Hydralisk had only enough time to fire a single spine, before the chatter of automatic weapons turned it into a bloody smear on the floor. That single spine flew straight and true to its target, Sarah. Sarah screamed and fell to the ground, spine still in her throat. John quickly stood and kneeled by her side.

John looked at Sarah's wound. It was bad, really bad. The spine had hit Sarah in the trachea and was sticking out her spinal cord. Even with the insanely small possibility of her living, she would be paralyzed neck down for life.

"John? John! Where are you?" She yelled out. The spine's poison was taking effect, rendering Sarah blind.

"I'm right here Sarah. Right here." John said, placing a hand on her forehead. Sam noticed Sarah's eyes were watering.

"John? Why can't I move? Why can't I see?"

The words broke John's heart. He hated to see Sarah like this. "You're…you're hurt Sarah. Really bad." John said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I don't feel anything though…"

"That's because you were…lucky." John was actively crying now. How could he say she was lucky? She was going to die, and nobody could help her.

"John…will I die?" Sarah paused. "Don't lie." She said, forcing a chuckle. She and John knew that she was dead.

"Aw come on. You know I don't lie." John said, forcing a laugh as well.

"That's my favorite thing about you…" Sarah said quietly. "Don't…be…sad…I…lo-" Sarah's voice had faded so much, that John couldn't here her.

"I can't promise that…I can't." John said, voice barely audible. Sarah didn't reply. John quickly felt for a heartbeat. Nothing. "I can't promise that because…I'm broken when you're gone." John let himself cry. He didn't care that full-grown Marines were watching him, he didn't care that there were Zerg slowly closing in on his position. He didn't care about anything.

Chest still heaving, John leaned down to Sarah and closed her eyes. "I love you." John whispered and he kissed her forehead lightly. John sat there for a moment, before standing.

"Hey kid…what are you gonna do?" Akslack asked, voice edged with sympathy.

John thought for a second. He would never be anybody. He would never find his vision of peace. He would never be happy. John walked over and picked up a fallen Marine's Gauss rifle. He ignored the pain in his hands and cocked the rifle.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to kill as many of those Zerg bastards as possible. I'm gonna be a Marine." John said. He looked up at Akslack, face cold and menacing. John walked to the Dropship, ignoring Sarah's corpse.

"Hey don't you wanna give your lover a proper burial?" Akslack asked.

"Leave the body, it won't do anyone any good dragging around a corpse." John said monotonously and he strapped himself into the Dropship.


	2. Training

Disclaimer: Me don't own StarCraft.

A/N: I finally got Brood War! I'm not too far in the campaign however. Man it is so sweet, Medics kick ass. Make's things so much easier. I just got Battle net too, if you wanna play a newb than look around for HellMarine at the USWest gateway. Pay attention to this chapter, this is the only time you will get a neat little list of the character names and descriptions! By the way, the Drill Sergeant is a total asshole and there is heavy language not to mention racism and sexism. Let me tell you my views are not reflected in this story, so don't say I'm a son of a bitch who is a horrible person. Semper Fi.

**The No Feel Soldier**

**By**

**FoolishBlue**

**Chapter 2: Training**

"Stand up you worthless pieces of maggot shit!" The Drill Sergeant's shrill voice seemed to crack the air like thunder. John, not wanting to get on his future Drill Sergeant's bad side, stood immediately in the dusty old recruitment bus. The Drill Sergeant, nasty expression on his face, looked over the 56 new Marine recruits.

"You there! Faggot!" The Drill Sergeant walked up to John. John felt a tightening in his gut.

"Y-yes?" John replied.

"Did I hear a stammer in that?" The Drill Sergeant's face was only half a centimeter from John's. John felt like throwing up. He had never been more afraid of another human in his life. John had every reason to be afraid however. The Drill Sergeant was definitely imposing. He was 6'5 high, body rippling with stim pack-induced muscles, and looked as though he could snap a Battle Cruiser in half.

"There was no stammer…"

"I thought so." The Drill Sergeant walked away from John. When the Sergeant was at the front of the bus he turned around. "My name is Drill Sergeant Joseph Patterson. When talking to me, the first and last words out of your mouth will be 'Sir'! If I walk into the room, I better see all you at attention, facing me, standing so straight it hurts. You will refer to yourself in third person as 'the Private.' If I say 'Dead man,' I want to hear 'Kill who Sir?' Am I being clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Every recruit yelled out.

"Damn Straight I am. Now get on out of this fucking bus and I will assign the Barracks you shitbags are going to be livin' in." When John and the other recruits heard this, they all hustled outside, bags in hand, while making sure they were up so straight, it hurt. It wasn't pleasant outside. The ground was dusty and rust colored, a sandstorm raged, and besides a couple of Terran buildings, it was barren and empty. John got the feeling he had literally stepped into hell.

When everyone was outside, Patterson walked out and gave every recruit a cold stare. "Why the hell aren't you cocksuckers in a pretty lil' line!"

"Well Sir, You di-" The young recruit who had said this was silenced to a punch to the face. The recruit staggered, but managed to keep his balance.

"Did I say you could speak!" Patterson asked threateningly. The young recruit only shook his head. "Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, get into two lines, girls in one, boys in the other!"

Not wishing for any punishment, the recruits quickly did so. John noticed there were as many women as men. Shrugging off the somewhat awkward feeling, John stood up straight, waiting for _something_ to happen. Patterson gave everyone one more cold stare before pulling out a clipboard.

"When I call your name, you will stand to my right in an orderly single file line! If you don't understand, speak now!" Patterson yelled. No one spoke.

Drill Sergeant Patterson began to call of names, last names first, first names second. John stood for only 30 seconds before his name was called. John quickly ran up and got into the back of the line. After the Sergeant had called 12 names, male and female, he motioned to a single armored Marine.

"He will lead you pansies to your Barracks. Listen to him or be hurt by him."

John along with the other 11 recruits in his unit ran forward to the Marine. When they reached him, John noticed the Marine's face shield was down, causing the Marine to appear cold and emotionless.

"Well what the hell are you damned kids waiting for? A warm welcome? Follow me into the depths of hell." The Marine said as he turned around. The Marine bounded off, the young male and female recruits just behind him. John sputtered and gasped against the sand filled wind. He already hated whatever planet he was on.

In roughly 30 minutes, the recruits had reached the Barracks. John wanted to bend over and just take a deep breath, but he knew that probably wasn't the smartest idea. The Marine rushed the recruits inside and assigned them beds almost immediately.

The Barracks was, like all Confederate Marine buildings, cramped and strictly professional. The room was in a rectangular shape with 12 beds strategically placed along the walls to allow a space in the middle, which allowed the Marines to get up and rush outside. There was a shower area that had 12 showerheads and clear glass stalls. Connected to the shower area was the bathroom area. The Bathroom area had 6 urinals and 6 toilets and 6 sinks.

When John saw the bathroom area, he felt his cheeks blush slightly. He would have to shower in front of 11 other people, 5 of which were women. John felt somewhat relieved that he wasn't a woman and wouldn't have to deal with people staring him the entire time. At least, he hoped he wouldn't have to.

"Recruits! Stand by your assigned beds and make friends with everyone! They just might save your life one-day. Training starts tomorrow. Until then, make friends, unpack, and stay here. Anyone one caught making dominant sexual advances onto each other, consensual or not, will be shot on sight. Do you understand?" The armored Marine yelled.

"Yes Sir!" the recruits yelled. The Marine then turned around and strode out the Barracks, sealing the door behind him.

When everyone was sure he was gone, they unpacked their bags. John hadn't packed anything, seeing as he left his planet almost immediately after the Zerg attacked, besides John was poor and didn't have anything to pack.

"Man, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking when I signed up." A young male recruit with short, black spiked hair, pale skin, a thin figure and glasses said.

"Was it something along the lines of 'Ooooh the Marines! I'm gonna be strong!'" A male recruit with shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes replied.

"No, I joined because I'm tired of office work. Need a thrill you know?" The recruit with glasses responded.

"I hear that!" A huge male recruit with a shaven head and ebony skin said. The recruits chattered among each other before looking up at John, realizing he hadn't said anything yet.

"Hey you there, guy with the freaky golden eyes! Why did you go into the Marines?" John looked up at the recruit with glasses who had said this.

"My name is John and I'd rather not say 'bout why I joined." John responded. He had always had a strange appearance. Golden eyes, white skin, shaven head, and average build. He personally liked his eyes, but it seemed to freak many people out.

"Quiet guy huh? Come on, tell us!" The blonde haired recruit said. A few other recruits murmured in agreement.

"I don't want to say." John said. John's irritation was increasing.

"He's probably trying to impress some girl back on his planet." A female recruit with short spiky black hair and blue eyes said with a smirk. Several recruits laughed.

"I'm not trying to impress anybody." John retorted.

"Sure, we believe you." The female recruit's voice was sarcastic. More recruits laughed.

John said nothing in reply and laid down on his cot, eager to fall into unconsciousness.

"Seriously, why don't you wanna say?" A male recruit with tousled brown hair and brown eyes asked. John sat up slightly to stare him in the eye.

"My past, not yours." John replied monotonously.

"Yuh-huh. So tell us. Oh wait, you're criminal aren't you?" A female recruit with slightly below shoulder length blonde hair and hazel eyes said.

"I bet he killed some chick, after raping her of course." The recruit with ebony skin said.

John stood up from his bed. That did it, he wasn't going to take this anymore. John swiftly advanced on the recruit's position and grabbed him by the collar. "Don't even joke about that. I would never do something so horrible." John hissed. The recruit stared at him with amusement.

"A'ight, a'ight. Settle down man." Said the recruit, prying John's hands from his collar. When John didn't have a death grip on the recruit's collar, the recruit looked at John. "So what you join for?"

"Dammit…If I tell you, will you shut up?" John asked, annoyance more than obvious in his tone.

The recruits gave a subtle nod of their heads and some folded their arms. John gazed around.

"The Zerg hurt some people I knew, and I'm getting even." John said, while turning to his bed and walking towards it.

"So a revenge trip huh?" A female recruit with short red hair, and green eyes said more than asked.

"Call it what you will." John said while lying down on his cot, closing his eyes. The recruits fell silent for a moment.

"Now, that kid has a real reason to be here. I'll bet my last pack of cigs that he'll be the best Marine here." Said the male recruit with glasses. The rest of the recruits murmured in agreement. John was about to fall asleep when a recruit shook him out of his dazed state.

"Hey you guys, we gotta know each other's names if we are gonna live. Call me Jacob Lowell." Said the recruit with dark hair and glasses. John nodded and stood from his bed.

"Abraham Jackson." The male recruit with shoulder length blonde hair gave a curt nod.

"Ya call me Ali, jus' Ali." The man with ebony skin patted his chest.

"I'm Erika, Erika Bright." The female recruit smiled at some of the recruits.

"Lindsey Rachich." The female recruit with slightly long, blonde hair crossed her arms and leaned on a wall.

"I'm David Leaner." The recruit with tousled brown hair said with a half-hearted smile.

"I suppose I should tell my name as well. Kate Young." The female recruit with red hair and green eyes said before continuing to unpack.

"Iris Remmelton." A female recruit with short brown hair said.

"I'm…um, Carlos Hending." A male recruit with black, matted hair and gray eyes said as though embarrassed.

"I'm Emily Swallowtail!" A somewhat perky female recruit with blonde hair tied up into a ponytail and ocean blue eyes said.

"I'm Sam Darkreckon." An extremely thing, pale recruit with jet-black hair said.

"John…Ackerson." John said slowly. He felt his lips tug into something of a smile when everyone introduced themselves. John then laid down in his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

"All of you up! You have two minutes to shower and another two minutes to put on your uniform! After that get the hell outside!" Said the harsh voice of a Marine Drill Sergeant.

John mumbled a "Sir, Yes sir" and sluggishly rolled out of his bed. He jogged down to the shower area with the rest of the recruits into the shower area. John paused for moment and gave a somewhat uneasy glance at the recruits, they to, looked a tad bit nervous about showering with the opposite sex in the same area, especially the shy Carlos Hending. John paused one more moment before pulling off his clothing and stepping underneath a showerhead.

The rest of the recruits looked at John and did the same. John looked at the knob by the showerhead, he turned it and cold water blasted full force onto John's skin. The water was anything but refreshing. It was more like the feeling of being burned alive while in below zero temperatures when you have no clothes, along with the feeling that your skin was trying to tear itself off your bones with the sonic cleansers blasting against you.

John gritted his teeth in pure frustration as the cold, soapy water splashed against him. He made sure to avoid looking at the women recruits even though they did all that was humanly possible to appear decent with no clothes on.

After 2 minutes the water shut off, and John, feeling quite awake now, was dried off instantly when sonic waves blasted away the water drops. John jumped out of the Shower area and to his bed where a solid gray uniform was waiting for him, neatly cleaned and ironed. John quickly put on his uniform and tried to make himself as presentable as possible. When everyone put on his or her uniforms the Drill Sergeant glared at everyone.

"A-tent-tion!" He yelled. The Recruits snapped up, arms by their sides, standing up straight as possible. The Sergeant eyed everyone as he walked through the isle of recruits. The Sergeant stopped at John, maliciousness in his eyes. "What is you name!"

"Sir, John Anderson sir!" John yelled out.

"Anderson is a fucking pussy's name, from now one you're Private PissBucket! Clear?" The Sergeant eyed John, waiting for a reaction.

"Sir, Yes sir!"

"Why'd you join the Marine Corps Private PissBucket?"

"Sir, to slaughter the Zerg sir!" John yelled.

"So you're a killer are you!"

"Sir, No, but I will be sir!"

"Damn straight you will be. If your not I will slit your throat and piss down your neck!" The Sergeant glared at John one last time before turning around to face the other recruits. "This man, no matter how much of a cocksucking faggot he is, has his head screwed on right! You will be killers, warriors without fear, killing machines! Do you or do you not understand!"

"Sir, I understand sir!" Yelled the Recruits as one.

"Damn right! Before anyone says anything, I am neither racist nor sexist, I am fair, but tough. I do not care if you're a beaner, nigger, cracker, whore, slut or a bitch. You are all the same useless meatsacks! Do you understand!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The Recruits yelled again.

"You there, slutty bitch!" The Sergeant turned and walked up to Kate Young. Kate gave him a look of shock by the way he referred to her.

"Sir, yes sir?" She asked, anger almost hidden in her tone.

"Do you think I am Sexist! Do you think I consider every woman in here a whore who probably fucked every guy in High School? Do think I consider every woman in here a tool of sex and nothing else?" The Sergeant yelled.

"Sir, I think you are a sexist sir!" Kate yelled firmly.

The Sergeant reacted by grabbing her breast with his left hand and grabbing her throat with the other. He forced her against the wall, and constricted both his hands until Kate's pain was obvious. "Let me repeat myself so you empty headed sluts can understand! Do you think I am a sexist?"

"Sir, no sir." Kate sputtered.

"I can't here you! Scream your answer like your having a fucking orgasm with one of your boyfriends back home!" The Sergeant screamed in Kate's ear.

"Sir, no sir!" Kate screamed. The Sergeant let go of her and turned around, ignoring her coughing and sputtering. The Sergeant then walked up to Ali.

"Do you think I am racist. Do you think I consider everyone with colored skin a crack snorting criminal? Do you think I am in the KKK? Do you think that I will down trodden you until your mind snaps?" The Sergeant yelled.

"Sir, no sir!" Ali yelled, he had seen what the Sergeant did to Kate and he apparently didn't want the same, if not worse, treatment.

"That's right! I will not put down the niggers in this Barracks or the woman. No, I will crush you all! I see no difference in all of you, you are all the same worthless pieces of shit who fuck your mothers and fathers!" The Sergeant glared at everyone before jerking a thumb to the door. "All of you cocksucking, family fucking, meatbags get outside right now! We start training with a nice easy jog."

The "nice easy jog" was actually a 6-mile sprint in the hot, early morning sun with over 30 percent of your own body weight in lead strapped to your back. John, being naturally fast, finished in the top 5. Gasping, he dropped to one knee and took in ragged breaths of the horrible, hot, dust filled air. A bad mistake, for the next thing John knew, he was on his back, pain coursing through his face. He tasted the coppery tang of blood in his mouth and felt a painful throb in his nose. It was broken.

"Did I give you permission to be a pansy!" Sergeant Patterson yelled.

"Sir, no sir!" John stood and despite the revolting taste in his mouth and throbbing pain in his nose, he stood at attention.

"Sweet Jesus, your nose is broken! I'll fix it for ya!" Sergeant Patterson yelled as he reached up to John's nose. He jerked it to the side and pain pounded into John's face, but he did not show it.

"It's still broken, let me fix it." He jerked it to the other side and more pain lanced through John's face. "There good as new! Did that hurt Private Pissbucket?"

"Sir, yes sir!" John yelled, ignoring the pain in his nose the best he could.

"Then why did you show no pain!" Sergeant Patterson was only inches from John's face not exactly a comfortable situation.

"Sir, the Private believes that if he shows pain, the Sergeant would only hurt him more sir!"

"You are a goddamn genius!" The Sergeant turned to the panting and gasping recruits. "You will show no pain, if you do, you only get more pain!"

"Sir, I understand sir!" The Recruits yelled.

"My god, you all must be goddamn geniuses! Congratulations, as a reward you all get to do fifty pushups. Count off from fifty, get to it meatbags!"

John and the rest the Marine recruits dropped down and began. When John finished, he wanted to just roll over and rest, but his desire to graduate and kill the Zerg would not let him. He jumped up and stood at attention, his nose still hurt, but he managed.

"Now you will train to learn the most important thing in this fucking world, how to fire a C-14 Gauss Rifle! The shooting range is a short run from here, follow me!" The Drill Sergeant yelled. The run was another two miles, thankfully there were no weights this time. When John reached the shooting range, he stood at attention, despite how badly his legs burned with fatigue.

John took a look at the range. It was a huge field with several targets about 100 feet away. There was no vegetation and the sand seemed to whirl through the air and target John's lungs

"All right you maggots! Come and get a Gauss Rifle and five clips of ammunition! When you have one, hold it four inches from your chest in a diagonal position!" Sergeant Patterson yelled. Everyone rushed up and grabbed a rifle and stood at attention, rifle in a diagonal position, exactly four inches from his or her chest.

"This is a C-14 Gauss Rifle it is the finest firearm the Confederates posses. It uses a series of high-powered magnets to project bullets at super sonic speeds. The Gauss rifle is rugged and long lasting, in fact it may very well outlive most of you. There are two types of ammunition, ten-millimeter, super dense, hollow, armor-piercing T-543 rounds and ten-millimeter, uranium depleted, mushrooming, heavy damage, sabot U-238 rounds. The T-543 rounds have shorter range and are better for enemy human forces that are wearing Neosteel armor. The U-238 rounds have longer range and can tear through just about any Zerg carapace. Do you understand?" The Sergeant neatly explained.

"Sir, yes sir!" Barked the recruits.

"Now, do as I do, and bitches, you will do pushups and listen until we are done! Remember, a rifle, is _not_ a gun! This is my rifle!" The Sergeant grabbed his rifle, and the men did the same, the women were on the ground doing pushups.

"This is my gun!" the Sergeant then grabbed his crotch. Though it was humorous, nobody laughed.

"This is for fighting!" The Sergeant grabbed his rifle again.

"And this is for fun!" The Sergeant grabbed his crotch again. "Now repeat!"

"This is my rifle! This is my gun! This is for fighting! And this is for fun!" The Recruits then did exactly as the Sergeant did.

"That is your rifle from now on, nobody else's. You will name your rifle a girl's name if you are a man and a boy's name if you are a woman! When we finish today's training, you better have a name for that rifle of yours! Everyone, man a shooting station!" The Sergeant harshly yelled.

The Recruits rushed forward, jacked in a clip of ammunition, and leveled their rifles; John was one of the few who did it right. The Sergeant quickly corrected everyone while viciously insulting his or her intelligence.

"Everyone will fire their clip of ammunition in burst of six shots at their target on my mark. Mark!" The Sergeant barked.

The sound of 12 C-14 Gauss rifles going off at the same time was deafening. John, having used a rifle before, did much better than the other recruits. Out of 6 shots, 6 hit the target and out of 6 shot, 4 hit the black area around the bull's eye. John let go of the trigger for a moment, realigned his rifle and squeezed it again and again the impaler bullets struck their mark.

"Goodness gracious, you must be a mother-fucking shooting prodigy! You better keep up this shooting Private Pissbucket or else you are out of my beloved Marine Corps!" The Sergeant had yelled this into John's ear, but thankfully the roar of the Gauss Rifles had almost drowned out the Drill Sergeant's harsh voice, almost.

The shooting kept up until everyone had expended his or her ammunition. John was one of the top rankers in accuracy. When everyone was done, the Sergeant filled everyone into a neat row, he then proceeded to ask everyone what they had named their rifle.

"What's your rifle's name son?" The Sergeant asked John not screaming at the top of his voice for once.

"Sir, Her name is Sarah sir!" John replied. As soon as John heard the fact that he would have to name his rifle, he named it after his ex-love, Sarah.

"Very good. Pissbucket, you are so far doing the best out of this entire group, you get to do twenty-five pushups. Starting now!"

John immediately dropped to the ground and did the twenty-five pushups. When he was done, his already sore arms hurt like hell.

"Now we will begin the second most important part of your training. You will learn how to drive a CMC 300 powered combat suit. Follow me to the Engineering Bay, its _only_ five miles from here." The Sergeant bounded off when he had said this, the Recruits closely in tow.

John was exhausted, never in his life had he ever done anything so psychically tiring. Even if he did well, he was punished. Taking a gasping deep breath, John pushed himself into an all out sprint while slinging "Sarah" over his shoulder. His heart hurt and it was equally painful to breathe, but John didn't slow. He would not slow. His desire, his want, his _need_ to become a Marine kept him going. John ignored his pain, he pushed himself to his own limit and even further. John would, he will become a Marine and he will kill as many of the Zerg as his body and mind would allow.

In a little under an hour, John and the recruits had reached the Engineering Bay. And soon they were inside, donning the heavy suits of Neosteel while in a neat little row, facing the Drill Sergeant. The room in the Engineering Bay was rectangular and made completely of cold steel. The lights were bright and almost blinded John, but he manged to ignore them for the time being.

John found it extremely difficult to move, and even harder to stand upright. Then almost as he thought this, the suit became air-light. John frowned, wondering how the suit became so light, but then he remembered that a small fusion cell in the back powered the suit. John looked down at himself, he was easily a foot taller with the suit on, and almost twice as bulky. The suit was a steel gray with absolutely no dents, scuffs or scratches. The suit was brand new, this was definitely a good thing.

"Alright, listen up meatbags! That suit you are wearing is a brand new piece of the finest Confederate hardware. The armor is roughly eleven inches thick of grade-A Neosteel. The shoulders are oversized to house a temperature regulating system, and they provide even more protection for your head from the side. Most of you have probably noticed an empty space underneath your arms. This will stored your Stim Packs, twenty in each slot. Your suits are not filled with Stims yet, but we'll cover that later. If you all look into your helmets chin areas, you may notice there are several switches. The red switch will activate a Stim Pack, the green switch will roll down your face shield, and the blue switch activates a built in COM system. On your gauntlets, near the wrist area, there is several other switches. You pry open the armored housing around the wrist computers and from there you can change COM channels, pull a universal computer attachment cord for hacking into basic computers, and change the pressurized gel layer's density. This system is on your right wrist."

"Your suit is capable of completely deflecting all small arms fire," Continued the Sergeant. "And your chance of surviving a moderate grenade explosion is seventy-five percent. If your suit is punctured, a small balloon like layer will inflate around the wound and inject a steady flow of non-side effect painkillers to prevent the wound from getting worse until you reach a medic. Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The recruits yelled.

"Good, now recruits, take one shuffling step towards me. The Recruits did so, but most tried to take a large step in order to move the heavy suit. Bad idea. The suit had a series of hydraulics and servos that allowed you to move normally with little effort, thus, the people who tried to move with extra effort lost control and fell over. John was one of the few who had fallen over.

"My god, you bunch of brainless, cocksucking, lesbians can't even take a single step while wearing 1547 pounds of Neosteel! You're even more pathetic than I thought! Why if it weren't for dickheads like you, there wouldn't be any deaths in war!" The Sergeant swiftly advanced on Erika Bright who had fallen. "What the fuck do think you are doing, trying to offend me! What the hell are you doing in my marine core? You should be home, sucking your boyfriend's dick, or fucking somebody else's husband! What are you doing?"

"Sir, I fell sir!" She yelled out.

"Then what the hell do you think your doing on the ground! Get the fuck up or get the hell outta my sight!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Erika swiftly jumped up and managed to keep her balance. John and the rest of the fallen recruits tried to scramble to their feet.

"All of you who fell, freeze exactly as you are!" Sergeant Patterson barked.

John cursed under his breath and froze; he was halfway up in a not so comfortable position. Patterson gave everyone a cold stare, he then walked up to John and kicked him down, and proceeded to do the same to every recruit that had fallen.

"Get up!" He yelled at John. John braced himself up with his hands and pushed himself up, only to find that he was kicked down again. "Get up!" Sergeant Patterson repeated. John tried again and again he was kicked down. "If you don't get up, I'm gonna take your pretty lil' rifle, ram it up your ass and pull the goddamn trigger!"

John gritted his teeth and attempted to stand, when the Drill Sergeant tried to kick him down again he braced and took the kick. John didn't fall, despite the repeated kicks to his suit. John stood and snapped at attention. Patterson gave him a cold glare before turning to the rest of the recruits and doing exactly what he did to John. Soon everyone was standing, waiting for his or her next command.

"Good job maggots. Now, drop and give me 200 pushups!" The recruits dropped their jaws before dropping to the floor. John found a single pushup extremely easy thanks to the powered servos in the suit's joints and strength enhancers. Hell, 50 pushups were relatively easy. When John finished however, his arms were burning and he felt weak.

"Maggots, walk around, get used to the suits, this is the closest damn thing you will get to a break the entire time you will be here on my little planet. Use it well." Patterson than pulled out a collapsible chair and sat down, eyeing everyone. John walked around for a while and when he was confident, he began to jog, then run, then sprint all out. He loved his armor, fluid strength and speed enhancements and 11 inches of Neosteel to protect him. He was perfectly designed to slaughter, maim and rip apart the Zerg.

After about 20 minutes, John could move without telling the difference between suit movement and normal movement. He began a series of punches and strikes and found that it was surprisingly easy to execute despite the bulky armor.

"Alright bastards, were going down to the shooting range now. We gotta teach ya how ta shoot." Patterson said, folding away the collapsible chair. John frowned, didn't they just train on how to do that? Maybe there was a different way to shoot with the armor on? John shrugged it off and quickly followed the Sergeant who had just donned his own, more beat up, suit of neosteel. John gave a small look of amazement. How long was that? About 1 minute and 20 seconds? It took almost 20 minutes to suit himself up.

John chinned a control in his helmet and rolled down the faceplate in his armor, he felt invincible, even though he knew he wasn't. Sprinting ahead, his rifle in hand, John took a deep breath, it was much easier to run now that he had his suit on. In about 20 minutes the recruits had covered the 5-mile run back easily. John quickly rushed forward to a shooting station on command and slapped a fresh clip of U-238 rounds into his rifle. Awaiting further orders.

"Take you rifle and hold at your hip in a broad legged stance, it's one of the only ways the suit can take the recoil. Another way, is to hold the rifle up to your shoulder and drop to one knee. Hold the rifle at your hip and fire six rounds at the target. Mark!" Patterson barked. John went broad legged and held the deadly rifle at his hip. He pulled the trigger and fired off a six round burst. The high velocity rounds flew through the air, creating mini sonicbooms, before ripping through the cardboard target. All six shots had hit around the bull's eye.

John smiled. He would be a weapon, a weapon to destroy what stole everything from him. He couldn't wait to go to war.


	3. The First Taste of Blood

**Disclaimer: I dun own StarCraft.**

**A/N: Well here is the third chapter. Oh there isn't nearly as much cussing in this chapter as the previous one so you can stop ranting on about how much of an asshole I am. There is more bloody action than the previous two chapters combined, so rejoice! If you all have been reading then you must be starting to see that John is less sane than he was when Sarah was still alive. That slight insanity will definitely show some more here and there. Enjoy!**

**The No Feel Soldier**

**By**

**Foolish Blue**

**Chapter 3: First Taste of Blood**

**12 weeks later…**

"You gotta be shittin' me! _Everyone_ of you bastards made it! Damn…Today, you are no longer pathetic little crybabies, but Marines, killers to the core. Congrats, no get the fuck off my training course and outside. There's a Dropship to take you to your new posts on the other side of this planet. Have fun now get the hell outta my sight." Barked Patterson before turning around and walking out to bus filled with more recruits.

"Sir, yes sir!" The new Marines barked before about-facing and striding out the Barracks' door out into the dusty planet of Mar Sara. John frowned and rolled down the face shield on his suit. He and the rest of his squad were decked out in their slightly scuffed suits of CMC-300 battle armor with the exception of Abraham and Carlos, who were Firebats and they used CMF-300 heavy assault armor with flame-thrower attachments. C-14 Gauss rifles holstered at the hip or Plasma Flame-throwers strapped to their arms. The deafening roar of a Dropship's engines was heard in the distance. Its ETA was about a minute, then they were off to the other side of Mar Sara, most soldiers would act as Guards for a Terran base. Not exactly the position John had hoped for, but the Zerg may attack it soon and the Confederacy needed every man they could get.

"Man I did it! Yeeha! I'm a friggen' Marine!" Cheered Jacob.

"Settle down Jacob, we don't need a KIA this early into becoming a Marine." Kate joked.

"Yup, 'dose rocks are nasty enemies. Make ya fall and crap." Ali joined in.

"Man shut it Ali, I'm a hundred times better a Marine than you and you know it, besides I'm your squad leader." Jacob retorted.

"Yuh huh." Ali replied sarcastically.

"Ah come on now. We're teammates, don't fight!" Protested Emily. Everyone with the exception of John turned to her and gave her and awkward stare. She shut up immediately.

"Man I can't wait for some trigger time." Abraham remarked, though it was slightly redundant, as he didn't have a rifle, but rather twin flame-throwers, one on each hand.

"Ha! You would be dead before you can pull that damn trigger." David laughed.

"Right, whatever." Abraham rolled his eyes before closing his suit's face shield.

"Guys, Dropship!" Lindsey yelled over the roar of the engines of the newly arrived Dropship. John looked up from his feet. The Dropship was large and bloated. Several dents and melted sections of the armor were quite noticeable. The pilot had obviously been in combat before. That was good, because John didn't trust any newbie pilot. They often made blinding mistakes such as forgetting to pressurize the Dropship before entering new space. Not so much because they were poorly trained, but rather that they were so damn nervous. John had seen some newbie pilots vomit when teams entered a Dropship for a mission.

"Hi boys 'n girls. My name is Warrant Officer Kimberly Golkavich and I will be your pilot for today. Strap yourselves in!" The female pilot cooed. John briskly walked up into the Dropship. There were 12 seats instead of the usual 8, indicating the ship was modified. Judging from the size of the vessel's engines and how much space was inside, the Dropship was modified for speed and load capacity, not armor. John walked up to a seat and secured himself with a heavy endurance belt. The rest of the Marines did the same.

"Please be careful of luggage falling from overhead compartments and keep all arms and legs inside the aircraft at all times. And we're off!" Kimberly the pilot said loudly over the COM in John's helmet. The Dropship lunged forward and John felt his stomach churn with the G forces. He preferred the old pilot veterans, they definitely knew how to fly.

The familiar roar of the Dropship soothed John and as the G forces began to dissipate, John fell into a light slumber.

"Hey John, dude wake up. We're here." Said a muffled voice. John shrugged off the words and began to fall down into sleep again. Suddenly the sound of metal knuckles rapping against John's helmet caused him to wake up instantly. In a single deft move John undid the security harness around his torso and stood, hand lightly resting on his Gauss rifle's hilt.

"Hey man, we're not in a combat zone. Settle down." John looked up at the voice's origin. It was a Marine from his squad, the reflective visor was up so John could easily tell that it was Jacob Lowell who tried to wake him. John eased up and grunted, keeping his face shield rolled down. Walking out the Dropship, John noticed that he was in a very different base than he was used to. The buildings were all very close together rather than almost 5 miles apart, like the ones in Boot Camp. Yup, the "Confeds" were strictly professional and efficient. John upholstered his Gauss rifle, checked to see if the safety was off, and if it was loaded. John flicked off the safety and checked his clip of ammunition. He was locked and loaded, ready for anything, even betrayal.

"Hey man, 'dis way!" Ali called out. John walked up to him, hand never leaving his Gauss rifle's hilt. When John had reached Ali, Ali shook his head. "Man ease up. We're in Confederate Territory here." Ali said with a light sigh.

John said nothing in reply. Not because he didn't know what to say, but because he considered it a waste of time to speak.

"Whateva man." Ali replied while turning around. John gave the area a good sweep with his golden eyes before turning to follow the rest of his group. John had an uneasy feeling. The Zerg could attack at any moment, without warning. John knew, it had happened to him.

The walk to John's team's Barracks was brisk and rather annoying. The Confederate buildings were so cramped together that the Marines had to walk in a single file line. When John and the rest of the team had reached the Barracks, they all entered immediately and began to disassemble their armor. John, unlike everyone else, kept his armor on and the visor down.

"Hey, don't you want to take your armor off?" Carlos asked. John glanced at Carlos from behind his armor's face shield and said nothing.

"Ignore John, he's completely brain dead." Jacob remarked. Carlos gave John an uneasy glance that read: "Are you okay?" before turning away. This all suited John just fine, he didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, or ever for that matter.

"Maybe someone should shoot him, that outta wake him up." Iris joked. Several Marines laughed and returned to customizing their bed area. John looked around before flicking the safety on his rifle "off." John rolling his visor up, he then expertly removed portions of his heavy CMC-300 combat suit.

John paused when he began to unseal his torso piece. Something wasn't right. Straining his ears John listened to a strange noise in the background.

"Hey man what's up?" Jacob asked.

"Shut up and listen." John replied icily. The Marines paused and strained their ears, listening for the unheard noise. John's eyes widened, the sound was unmistakable.

It was the sound of a 120-millimeter Arclite Shock Cannon going off, repeatedly.

"Don your armor, were under attack." Jacob said suddenly. Snapping his torso piece closed, slapping on his helmet and shutting his visor, John hefted his Gauss rifle and charged outside, the rest of the Marines in tow. Suddenly his COM barked.

"Marines, this is Colonel Duke. Man your battle stations, the Zerg have attacked."

The voice confirmed it all. The Zerg were here, they were attacking. Now John would finally fight. He would finally kill them.

"Ackerson, Rachich, Leaner and Young. You're with me as Blue team, you to Jackson, we need your flame-throwers. The rest of you, your Green and Iris, you have tactical command. Clear?" Jacob, the team leader barked. John clenched his hand and slapped his fist into his left shoulder. The symbol that he understood. "Acknowledged. Green, head over to the Bunkers and take a defensive position. Blue, were going out as rapid reaction to enemy forces." Jacob calmly ordered. John slapped his left shoulder again and broke away from the rest of his team, following Jacob.

John looked down at his Gauss rifle; he ran a quick check. It was operational. John quickly flicked off his rifle's safety and held it firmly in two hands.

"Stim packs everyone!" Jacob barked. John quickly chinned a switch in his helmet and felt pain lanced through his arms followed by a burning sensation, the stim pack was beginning to take effect. John sprinted ahead with the rest of his unit while breathing deeply. Mentally preparing himself to what was to come.

"Zerg! Open fire!" Jacob shouted. John looked ahead and froze. Approximately 30 meters ahead, five Hydralisks were charging toward the small unit. Statistically, five Marines and a Firebat would be slaughtered by the five hydralisks, but most statistics were wrong.

John froze for only half a second before his training kicked in. Dropping to one knee and bringing his rifle up to his shoulder, John squeezed the trigger. The loud chatter of automatic weaponry filled the air and John, despite his armor's recoil dampening sub systems, felt his rifle kick repeatedly into his shoulder.

The high powered U-238 rounds flew through the air with pinpoint accuracy. All six of John's burst of shots struck their target. The metal spikes slashed through a Hydralisk's carapace like a needle through thin cloth. The metal spikes tore through the Hydralisk's equivalent of a lung and kept going through more flesh. The rounds exited through the Hydralisk's back, leaving torn flesh and shattered bone in its deadly wake. The Hydralisk screeched in utmost pain, blood pumping from it's wound and organs spilling through the large torn holes, but the Hydralisk just kept coming.

John let go of his rifle's trigger and realigned his rifle, this time on the Hydralisks head. He squeezed the trigger for one second and let go. The rounds flew straight, slashing through the Hydralisk's head, tearing flesh, and spraying blood and cartilage into the air. Yet the Hydralisk kept coming.

"Keep shooting!" Jacob barked. John didn't need to be told twice, he squeezed the trigger again and let the deadly rain of lead fly. The Hydralisk squealed as the bullets slapped into John's intended target. The right arm. The metal spikes slashed repeatedly through the Hydralisk's powerful muscle, spraying crimson liquid and white bone until the arm was rendered useless, hanging by a single tendon. John smirked beneath his helmet and aligned his rifle on the Hydralisk again. John pulled the trigger and another volley of death flew. The supersonic rounds cut through what must have been the Hydralisk's neck. A lucky round made it and cut clean through the spinal column, snapping the spinal cord and instantly killing the Hydralisk in a misty puff of dark red blood.

John grinned wickedly beneath his helmet and turned to another Hydralisk. John squeezed the trigger and this time held it in full auto. The Hydralisk shrieked in pain as round after round slapped into it's armored helmet of a head. Bits of bloodied flesh were torn away until finally a round slashed through its miniature brain. In a violent spray of brain fluids and blood, the Hydralisk went down.

John quickly targeted another Hydralisk and pulled the trigger again. Metal spikes flew and again the Hydralisk went down in a beautifully morbid display of blood and guts.

"Hold your fire. Dammit John hold your damn fire!" Jacob yelled. John let go of the trigger that he hadn't realized that he had been holding. The intensity of battle had consumed him, definitely not good if he wanted to survive.

"Dammit man, you gotta hold your fire when they're dead!" Jacob barked. John said nothing and quickly replaced his nearly empty magazine of ammunition. John checked his rifle again and switch the settings to burst mode. This way he would be able to control the amount of lead he sprayed.

"Jacob, were getting an incoming transmission! Listen." Kate then quickly patched the transmission into Blue team's helmets. John carefully listened to every word.

"The Zerg…They're, they're swarming the bunkers…Where the hell is that rapid reaction force!" The voice was of a young man, probably a Lieutenant. The young man spoke in between gasps and there was lots of background screaming as Marines were slaughtered.

"All right, you heard the man! We gotta get the hell over to those Bunkers! Lock 'n load!" Jacob quickly stood to his feet and reloaded his rifle. John slapped his left shoulder and stood. Jacob gazed at the rest of Blue team and when they were all done reloading Jacob hit his helmet, the sign for 'follow me.' Jacob sprinted ahead with John and the rest of the Marines right behind.

They had only run a short ways when John heard a blood-curdling scream. The Marines stopped and turned to the source.

It was David Leaner. David was screaming and twitching madly as if he were intense pain. John quickly scanned his body and found the source of his pain. There was a small puncture, about the size of a baby's fist in his chest. John's eyes widened, he had heard of this, every Marine had. David had just been hit by a Queen's egg, a truly deadly weapon against any organic ground unit. The egg would punch through most armor and bury itself into the target's chest cavity, seconds later the egg would burst and two Broodlings would rip themselves out of the unfortunate Marine, killing him instantly. The Broodlings would then attack any nearby enemy units. There was only one way to stop this attack from happening.

Killing the target before the Broodlings burst forth. John was the first to react, his rifle dropped to waist level and he immediately took a broad-legged stance as he was trained to do. John jerked the trigger once and three U-238 uranium depleted rounds shot forth. The rounds slashed through David's head, tearing his head and splattering bone, blood and brain fluid into the back of his helmet. David's screaming was silenced, but it was too late, the Broodlings had all ready burst forth through his armored chest, spraying blood and bits of organs everywhere. Remnants of David's lungs splattered against John's helmet and he instantly wiped them away with one hand, the other hand jerked his rifle's trigger, spraying supersonic death onto the Broodlings.

The Broodlings managed to shrug off John's and the rest of the Marine's desperate shots and they lunged forward. A Broodling darted through the air and tackled John. He didn't know what to do, he wasn't trained for this, so he relied on the last thing he had. His instincts. Falling to the ground with the Broodling, John dropped his rifle, as it wouldn't be much use now. Pain slapped into John's back when he, Half a ton of neosteel and a 150 pound Broodling slammed into the dusty ground. John quickly gripped the Broodling's neck, choking it and keeping it's deadly toxic spines away from his face. John's grip tightened and he let go of the Broodling's neck with his right hand and placed it on the Broodling's head. John quickly jerked the head to the side with all his strength, hoping that he was right about Broodling anatomy.

An ear-piercing crack rang through the air, confirming John's suspicions. Broodlings had a spine, and if they had a spine, then they had a spinal cord, which could be snapped. The Broodling fell limp on John's chest and he shoved it aside, scooped up his rifle and jumped up, rifle at the ready. The chatter of Gauss rifles on full auto and the roar of plasma fire confirmed the kill of the last Broodling and John allowed himself to relax momentarily.

A stupid mistake, for as soon as John let his muscles relax, pain lanced through his left arm, John grunted and wheeled around, rifle held in his right hand. John let out a strangled gasp at the sight of his attacker.

12 Hydralisks were swiftly advancing onto Blue team's position. They were only 50 meters away and were shooting their lethal spines everywhere.

"Hydras at six o'clock!" John screamed. The Marines of Blue team turned, rifles all ready spraying deadly volleys of metal spikes. John hefted his own rifle and in a single deft movement, flicked it into full auto mode. John straightened his right arm, which held the Gauss rifle and pulled the trigger. The recoil was hell on John's aim, but he managed to hold decently accurate bursts of 10 rounds.

"Open fire on closest Hydra!" Jacob barked, every Marine turned to the closest Hydra and opened up. Abraham was a Firebat however and he rushed forward, spraying deadly plasma flame onto the closest Hydralisks. A hail of deadly rounds slashed repeatedly into the Hydralisk, ripping holes, splashing blood and scattering bits of bone and flesh onto the ground while Abraham's plasma fire melted the carapace off of the serpent's body. The Hydralisk was torn away piece by piece until all that remained was bloody pile of organs onto the ground. John smirked and turned to the next closest Hydralisk. He held the trigger down and more volleys of spikes darted forth, tearing away the Hydralisk's arms, ripping flesh and cracking it's carapace. The Hydralisk let out a scream that sounded like glass shattering before literally exploding as bullet after bullet slammed into it's chest with pinpoint accuracy. The Hydralisk's bits of flesh and intestines splashed onto the remaining Hydralisks, yet they didn't even notice.

"Grenade launchers, seek your own targets!" Jacob screamed. John quickly primed a grenade and slipped it down the barrel of his rifle's grenade launcher. John leveled his rifle and was about to pull the trigger when a single spine from a Hydralisk pierced his cuirass, slashed through his flesh and ripping through his left lung before exiting the other side.

John screamed and sunk to his knees, his vision slightly blurry from the trace amounts of poison that had entered his system. John tasted the coppery tang of blood in his mouth and he, despite his mortal wound, hefted his rifle again and pulled the trigger. A grenade flew and impacted against a Hydralisk's chest, the 40mm highly explosive grenade blew, rending the Hydralisk's carapace, splashing its lungs, intestines, heart, and other nameless organs along the ground. John screamed again when apiece of the Hydralisk's carapace flew at almost supersonic speeds and passed clean through his right shoulder.

The taste of John's own blood seemed to strengthen and he felt himself become dizzy, from blood loss or the Hydralisk's spines he did not know. John slumped onto the ground. It was over. He was dead.

Suddenly fire seemed to well up in John's chest. He didn't know what it was, but it was primal, powerful, and raging. But most of all, it would not allow John to die. John rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up. John stood weakly and picked up his Gauss rifle, turning John open fired onto the Hydralisks that were now almost 10 feet away. John screamed in complete and total anger. He would _not_ let himself die this way.

John held the trigger down, not letting go, sending a seemingly endless barrage of metal spikes into his target. The Hydralisk squealed and screeched, music to John's ears, under the crippling fire of his Gauss rifle. The Hydralisk was slowly torn away, first body part to lose was it's scythe-like hands, then it's arms, then it's chest was ripped apart, and finally it's head was shredded to bloody chunks. Blood, bone, organs, and even brain fluid splashed onto John, filling his senses with its rancid smell.

John turned to a new Hydralisk and pulled the trigger of his rifle. One, two, three shots rang out then his rifle clicked a most horrifying sound.

Empty. John threw his rifle down, not bothering to reload, as there wasn't enough time. John drew his sidearm and fired as fast as his trigger finger would allow. While the rounds weren't as powerful as his Gauss rifle's U-238 rounds, they still left their mark on the Hydralisk. The bullets slapped into the tough Hydra carapace, shattering it. Then a lucky shot got through, ripping through the Hydralisk's left eye, piercing its skull and destroying the brain in a brilliant display of blood and gore. The Hydralisk, do to it's reflex system and central nervous system, fell to the ground, twitching and writhing madly while blood pumped out of it's left eye. John deftly reloaded his pistol and looked around for more targets. There were none, apparently the rest of Blue team was competent enough.

"Hey man, you ok? I saw you take some nasty hits, we don't need another dead man." Abraham, the Firebat said with very faint traces of concern. John paused for a moment before replying.

"I'm fine." He said in a firm voice. John was actually hurt pretty bad, his left arm was disabled, his left lung was punctured, and his right shoulder had taken a nasty hit as well. John holstered his handgun and bent over to retrieve his rifle. John's vision went blurry suddenly and he lost his balance. John fell and he blacked out from blood loss and lack of oxygen.

"Shit! I knew he wasn't ok!" Abraham cursed several more times and walked up to John.

"Take off his suit, see what's wrong with him." Jacob ordered. Abraham rolled up his visor and nodded. Abraham quickly undid John's suit and pulled him out of it. Abraham cursed when he saw how rough of shape John was in.

"He's lost a bit of blood and he's gone unconscious from lack of oxygen and there is probably trace amounts of venom running through his systems." Abraham expertly explained. Jacob cursed aloud.

"Get him back in his armor, throw him over your shoulder and lets get him to the defensive bunkers, they got medics there." Jacob barked. Abraham quickly holstered John's rifle and threw the unconscious soldier over his shoulder before sprinting ahead with Jacob and the rest of Blue team while praying that the run would be uneventful.

John's mind seemed to drift, as he was unconscious, images of his life flashed by him and past emotions and experiences came and went. John found himself feeling a floating sensation and all he could see was white.

"Don't…be…sad…I…lo-" 

"Sarah? Sarah!" John searched the area frantically, but all he saw was white. And soon, Sarah's voice was wrenched from his memories.

"No, no, no, give it back!" John screamed, he didn't know what was taken from his, only that it was important.

"_Don't lie…"_ It was Sarah's voice and John searched for it's origin, but it too was ripped away.

Memories seemed to flood John, then leave and soon John found himself completely alone, not able to remember anything besides his memories of boot camp and what happened after.

But then again he didn't need his other memories, he was a soldier, what good would it do him to remember the past?

John Edward Ackerson, Rank: Private, Serial number: 37453, company: Baker, 2nd Battalion, Infantry regiment/Marine, Blue team. The no feel soldier, the warrior that cannot die, that does not care, that does not feel. He lives to kill, he was born to kill, that's all he does, that's all he will do.

John licked his lips. "The taste of blood…is always so sweet." The white light seemed to dissipate and John felt himself slip into a coma.


End file.
